The clinic offers a wide range of supplies and the latest techniques in dentistry. Assistants are assigned to residents throughout the year to provide experience in four-handed dentistry. There is an extensive, part-time to full-time staff in all the dental specialties which allow residents to tackle new and difficult treatment procedures such as implant placement/restoration, full-mouth rehabilitation, dealing with medically compromised patients, diagnosis, and continuation of simple to complex cases in all dental disciplines.
The residency program is divided into one week in Periodontics, eight weeks in Oral Diagnosis/Emergency Care, two weeks in Medicine (primary care), two weeks in Anesthesiology, five weeks in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and three days at the Oral Facial Pain clinic at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School, National Naval Medical Center. The balance of the twelve-month program is spent in the General Practice Clinic where the residents provide comprehensive care - Restorative (including implant dentistry), Preventive, Periodontics, Endodontics, Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics, and Oral Diagnosis.
While on the Anesthesiology rotation, the residents learn the indications and contraindications for use of general anesthesia; learn to evaluate a patient's ability to undergo general or regional anesthesia; learn to start and maintain IVs, monitor vital signs, and maintain an airway; gain a greater understanding of pharmacology and physiology; and acquire an understanding of the general methodology of general anesthesia and the implications of the use of general anesthesia. The residents actively participate in all phases of anesthesia.
The General Practice Residents are assigned to Medicine after successfully completing a physical evaluation course. The residents gain experience using the techniques of physical evaluation; gain experience recognizing the presence of selected organic disease, which may affect the management of oral and dental problems; gain awareness of the influence of systemic disease on oral health; and observe the diagnosis and management of systemic disease.
The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery rotation consists of evaluation and treatment of patients in the outpatient clinic; participating in the admission, management, and discharge of inpatients and patients scheduled for IV sedation; and accompanying the OMFS staff and residents to the Operating Room. Through this experience the residents develop increased ability in simple exodontia, surgical extractions, biopsy, minor pre-prosthetic surgery, treatment of pain and infection, management of dentoalveolar trauma, and operating room protocols and procedures.
The Oral Facial Rotation is one week and completed at the Oral Facial Pain Clinic at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. The residents will be exposed to patients dealing with chronic oral facial pain. The following objectives will be achieved at the completion of the rotation: 1) recognize the nine key elements of basic pain history; 2) demonstrate how to use a multi-axial physical examination; formulate a set of differential diagnoses for pain complaints; 3) demonstrate the ability to formulate a multi-axial pain management plan; 4) recognize the characteristics of odontogenic versus odontogenic pain; 5) describe the steps of performing an auriculotemporal nerve block.
Some of the academics/courses will be obtained through distance learning. Distance learning means education that uses one or more of the technologies listed below to deliver instruction to residents who are separated from the instructor. The technologies may include:
- the internet;
- two-way transmission through video teleconferencing (V-Tel); and/or
- audio conferencing.
Processes are in place to protect student privacy. Students will be notified of any projected additional charges associated with the verification of student identity at the time of registration or enrollment.